View source for Chong Tae-hyon

{{short description|South Korean baseball player}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Jeong (Korean name)|Chong]]||lang=Korean}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
| name          = Tae-Hyon Chong
| team          = Lotte Giants
| number        = 38
| position      = [[Pitcher]]
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1978|11|10}}
| birth_place    = [[Gunsan]], [[South Korea]]
| bats          = Right
| throws        = Right
| debutleague   = [[Korean Baseball Organization|KBO]]
| debutdate     = April 7
| debutyear     = 2001
| debutteam     = [[SK Wyverns]]
| finalyear =2016
|finalteam = [[Lotte Giants]]
|statyear=
|statleague=KBO
|stat1label=[[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]
|stat1value=46–29
|stat2label=[[Save (baseball)|Saves]]
|stat2value=106
|stat3label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat3value=2.21
|stat4label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat4value=559
| teams         = 
*[[SK Wyverns]] ({{Baseball year|2001}}–{{Baseball year|2011}})
*[[Lotte Giants]] ({{Baseball year|2012}}–{{By|2016}})
|highlights=
* 2× [[Korean Series]] champion ({{Baseball year|2007}}, {{Baseball year|2008}})
|medaltemplates=
{{MedalSport | Men's [[baseball]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Baseball at the Summer Olympics|Olympics]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Beijing]]|[[Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics|Team]]}}
{{MedalBronze |[[2000 Summer Olympics|2000 Sydney]] | [[Baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics|Team]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[World Baseball Classic]]}}
{{MedalSilver| [[2009 World Baseball Classic|2009 Los Angeles]] | Team }}
{{MedalBronze| [[2006 World Baseball Classic|2006 San Diego]] | Team }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Asian Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2010 Asian Games|2010 Guangzhou]]|[[Baseball at the 2010 Asian Games|Team]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[2015 WBSC Premier12]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[2015 WBSC Premier12|2015 Tokyo]] | Team }}
}}

'''Tae-Hyon Chong''' ({{Korean|hangul=정대현|hanja=[[wikt:鄭|鄭]]; [[wikt:大|大]]; [[wikt:炫|炫]]}}; born November 10, 1978, in [[Gunsan]], [[Jeollabuk-do]], [[South Korea]]) is a retired [[South Korea]]n underhand [[pitcher]] who played 17 years [[Korea Professional Baseball]]. He bats and throws [[right-handed]]. Chong was considered as a [[submarine pitcher]] with an unusual delivery. His primary pitches were a sinking fastball (sinker), usually sitting around 80&nbsp;mph, and a curveball.

==Amateur career==
In 1999, as a junior at [[Kyung Hee University]], Chong was selected as a member of the [[South Korea national baseball team]] for the [[Intercontinental Cup (baseball)|1999 Intercontinental Cup]] in [[Sydney]]. At the Intercontinental Cup, he was 1–1 with a 1.47 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 18.1 innings. In Korea's first game of the [[round-robin tournament]] against [[Cuba national baseball team|Cuba]], Chong came on to pitch in relief and led his team to a 4–3 victory, which was South Korea's first victory over Cuba at international baseball competitions organized by the [[IBAF]]. Besides, he pitched an 8.2 inning shutout victory over the [[Netherlands national baseball team|Netherlands]] with nine strikeouts.

In 2000, as a senior Chong was selected for the [[South Korea national baseball team]] for the [[2000 Summer Olympics]] held in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]]. As the only amateur player on the 24-man roster, Chong started two critical games against [[United States national baseball team|Team USA]], facing [[Roy Oswalt]] as a [[starting pitcher|starter]] in both of the games. In the first game against the United States in the round-robin, he pitched seven scoreless innings with five strikeouts, allowing six hits. In the semifinal game against the United States, he gave up only two runs and five hits in 6.1 innings with six strikeouts. Due to his impressive performance, Team South Korea eventually won their first Olympic medal.

=== Notable international careers===
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background:#0A6EFF"|<span style="color:white;">Year</span>
!style="background:#0A6EFF"|<span style="color:white;">Venue</span>
!style="background:#0A6EFF"|<span style="color:white;">Competition</span>
!style="background:#0A6EFF"|<span style="color:white;">&nbsp;Team&nbsp;</span>
!style="background:#0A6EFF"|<span style="color:white;">Individual Note</span>
|-
|&nbsp;1999&nbsp;
|&nbsp;{{Bb|AUS}}&nbsp;
|&nbsp;[[Intercontinental Cup (baseball)|Intercontinental Cup]]&nbsp;
|style="text-align:center"| 7th
|&nbsp;1-1; 1.47 ERA (3 G, 18.1 IP, 3 ER, 21 K)&nbsp;
|-
|&nbsp;2000&nbsp;
|&nbsp;{{Bb|AUS}}&nbsp;
|&nbsp;[[Baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|style="text-align:center"| [[Image:Bronze medal icon.svg]]
|&nbsp;0-0; 1.35 ERA (2 G, 13.1 IP, 2 ER, 11 K)&nbsp;
|-
|}

==Professional career==
In {{Baseball year|2001}}, signed by the [[SK Wyverns]], he had a mediocre rookie season, pitching only 16.2 innings in 18 games as a [[setup man]] with a 5.40 [[Earned run average|ERA]] and 20 [[strikeouts]], allowing 19 hits and 10 [[earned run]]s.

In {{Baseball year|2002}}, Chong had a better season, pitching 42 innings in 24 games with a 3.21 ERA and 30 [[strikeouts]]. In November, he was selected for the South Korean national team and led his team to the silver medal at the [[Intercontinental Cup (baseball)|2002 Intercontinental Cup]]. In the [[round-robin tournament]], Chong racked up 11 strikeouts against [[Panama national baseball team|Panama]], allowing 2 runs and 6 hits in 5.2 innings pitched, and pitched a 5-1 complete game victory over [[Dominican Republic]]. Chong started for South Korea in the gold medal game, and allowed 2 runs over 6 innings in a 1–2 loss to [[Cuba national baseball team|Cuba]]. He tied [[José Ibar]] of Cuba for the Cup lead in strikeouts.

In the {{Baseball year|2003}} season, he pitched 51 innings in 37 games, going 4–3 with a 2.29 [[Earned run average|ERA]], 2 [[Save (baseball)|saves]] and 8 holds, allowing 33 hits, 4 home runs and 13 earned runs.

In {{Baseball year|2004}}, Chong appeared in 52 games with 69.1 innings pitched and posted a record of 2–3 with a 2.34 ERA, 2 saves and a career-best 16 holds, allowing 62 hits and 2 home runs.

In {{Baseball year|2005}}, Chong got an injury at his arm and missed the first half of the season, undergoing [[arthroscopic surgery]]. He came back from injury in the second half of the season and posted a remarkable ERA of 0.37, racking up 3 saves and 6 holds and allowing only 1 earned run in 24.1 innings pitched.

In {{Baseball year|2006}}, Chong shared the Wyverns' [[Closer (baseball)|closer]] role with former [[Major League Baseball]] [[relief pitcher]] [[José Cabrera (baseball)|José Cabrera]]. Chong recorded 15 saves and 11 holds with a 2.57 ERA.

Chong had his career-best season in {{baseball year|2007}}, when Cabrera left via free agency to the [[Lotte Giants]] and Chong became the full-time closer for the Wyverns. Chong posted career-highs in saves (27) and strikeouts (65) with a 0.92 ERA, and allowed only 50 hits and 3 home runs in 78.1 innings pitched. He became the first pitcher to have a sub-1.00 ERA in 70+ innings pitched since 1995, when South Korean pitching legend [[Sun Dong-Yeol]] posted a 0.49 ERA in 109.1 innings pitched.

In {{Baseball year|2008}}, Chong was called up for the [[South Korea national baseball team]] and participated in the [[2008 Summer Olympic Games]] held in [[Beijing]], [[China]]. He led his team to the gold medal, pitching 4 innings with 7 strikeouts, allowing one run and saving two. 
In the gold medal game, closer Chong contributed to escaping the one-out bases-loaded jam by inducing a game-ending double play along with battery mate [[Jin Kab-Yong]] to edge Cuba 3-2.

In {{Baseball year|2010}}, Chong was sidelined in the early part of the season due to a chronic knee problem. He came back to the bullpen in May but was demoted from his role as Wyverns closer, losing the job to [[Lee Seung-ho (born 1976)|Lee Seung-Ho]]. Chong completed a strong season as a flexible set-up man and an occasional closer as well, posting a 1.40 ERA with 8 holds and 4 saves in 49 games.

===KBO career statistics===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;font-size:small"
|- bgcolor="cccccc"
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="42"|<span style="color:white;">Year </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="65"|<span style="color:white;">Team </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="35"|<span style="color:white;">ERA</span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">G </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">W </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">L </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">SV </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">HD </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">CG </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">ShO </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="40"|<span style="color:white;">IP </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">H </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">HR </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">BB </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">K </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">R </span>
!style="background:#ff0000;" width="30"|<span style="color:white;">ER</span>
|-
|2001 ||rowspan="11" style="text-align:center;"| [[SK Wyverns|SK]]||5.40||18||0||0||0||0||0||0||16.2||19||2||11||20||10||10
|-
|2002 ||3.21||24||1||0||0||0||0||0||42.0||37||2||11||30||15||15
|-
|2003 ||2.29||37||4||3||2||8||0||0||51.0||33||4||20||34||16||13
|-
|2004 ||2.34||52||2||3||2||16||0||0||69.1||62||2||19||50||22||18
|-
|2005 ||0.37||20||1||0||3||6||0||0||24.1||10||0||6||18||1||1
|-
|2006 ||1.94||59||8||4||15||11||0||0||74.1||55||3||26||52||19||16
|-
|2007 ||0.92||60||3||2||27||3||0||0||78.1||50||3||32||65||12||8
|-
|2008 ||2.67||49||4||3||20||0||0||0||60.2||51||4||25||50||18||18
|-
|2009 ||1.20||56||2||3||10||13||0||0||52.2||40||1||21||43||11||7
|-
|2010 ||1.40||49||4||1||4||8||0||0||45.0||31||1||8||47||7||7
|-
|2011 ||1.48||53||3||3||16||11||0||0||52.2||43||1||28||39||12||9
|- bgcolor="#ff4000"
|colspan="2"|<span style="color:white;">'''Total'''</span>
|<span style="color:white;">'''1.93'''</span>
|<span style="color:white;">477</span>
|<span style="color:white;">32</span>
|<span style="color:white;">22</span>
|<span style="color:white;">99</span>
|<span style="color:white;">76</span>
|<span style="color:white;">0</span>
|<span style="color:white;">0</span>
|<span style="color:white;">569.0</span>
|<span style="color:white;">431</span>
|<span style="color:white;">24</span>
|<span style="color:white;">207</span>
|<span style="color:white;">448</span>
|<span style="color:white;">143</span>
|<span style="color:white;">122</span>
|}

=== Notable international careers===
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background:#0A6EFF"|<span style="color:white;">Year</span>
!style="background:#0A6EFF"|<span style="color:white;">Venue</span>
!style="background:#0A6EFF"|<span style="color:white;">Competition</span>
!style="background:#0A6EFF"|<span style="color:white;">Team</span>
!style="background:#0A6EFF"|<span style="color:white;">Individual Note</span>
|-
|&nbsp;2002&nbsp;
|&nbsp;{{Bb|CUB}}
|&nbsp;Intercontinental Cup
|style="text-align:center"| [[Image:Silver medal icon.svg]]
|&nbsp;1-1, 2.18 ERA (3 G, 20.2 IP, 5 ER, 24 K) <br>&nbsp;'''[[Strikeout|SO]] title'''
|-
|&nbsp;2006&nbsp;
|&nbsp;{{Bb|USA}}
|&nbsp;[[2006 World Baseball Classic|World Baseball Classic]]
|style="text-align:center"| [[Image:Bronze medal icon.svg]]
|&nbsp;0-0, 5.40 ERA (3 G, 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 K)
|-
|&nbsp;2007&nbsp;
|&nbsp;{{Bb|TPE}}&nbsp;
|&nbsp;[[Asian Baseball Championship]]
|style="text-align:center"| [[Image:Silver medal icon.svg]]
|&nbsp;0-0, 1 SV, 0.00 ERA (2 G, 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 K)
|-
|&nbsp;2008&nbsp;
|&nbsp;{{Bb|TPE}}
|&nbsp;[[Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Qualification#Final Qualifying Tournament|Final Olympic Qualification Tournament]]&nbsp;
|style="text-align:center"| [[Image:Silver medal icon.svg]]
|&nbsp;0-0, 1 SV, 0.00 ERA (2 G, 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 K)&nbsp;
|-
|&nbsp;2008&nbsp;
|&nbsp;{{Bb|CHN}}
|&nbsp;[[baseball at the 2008 Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|style="text-align:center"| [[Image:Gold medal icon.svg]]
|&nbsp;0-0, 2 SV, 2.25 ERA (3 G, 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 K)
|-
|&nbsp;2009&nbsp;
|&nbsp;{{Bb|USA}}
|&nbsp;[[2009 World Baseball Classic|World Baseball Classic]]
|style="text-align:center"| [[Image:Silver medal icon.svg]]
|&nbsp;0-0, 0.00 ERA (3 G, 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 K)
|-
|&nbsp;{{baseball year|2010}}&nbsp;
|&nbsp;{{Bb|CHN}}
|&nbsp;[[16th Asian Games|Asian Games]]
|style="text-align:center"| [[Image:Gold medal icon.svg]]
|&nbsp;1-0, 0.00 ERA (2 G, 1.1 IP, 0 ER)
|-
|}

== External links ==
* Career statistics and player information from [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930080641/http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=CHONGTAE01 the KBO official site]
{{baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br= |fangraphs= |cube= |brm=chong-000tae}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930080641/http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=CHONGTAE01 databaseOlympics]

{{Lotte Giants roster navbox}}
{{South Korea baseball roster 2000 Summer Olympics}}
{{South Korea roster 2002 Intercontinental Cup}}
{{South Korea roster 2006 World Baseball Classic}}
{{South Korea baseball roster 2008 Summer Olympics}}
{{South Korea roster 2009 World Baseball Classic}}
{{South Korea roster 2013 World Baseball Classic}}
{{South Korea roster 2015 WBSC Premier 12}}
{{South Korea baseball roster 2020 Summer Olympics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Tae-Hyon}}
[[Category:1978 births]]
[[Category:2006 World Baseball Classic players]]
[[Category:2009 World Baseball Classic players]]
[[Category:2013 World Baseball Classic players]]
[[Category:2015 WBSC Premier12 players]]
[[Category:Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea]]
[[Category:Asian Games gold medalists in baseball]]
[[Category:Asian Games baseball players for South Korea]]
[[Category:Baseball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Baseball players at the 2010 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Lotte Giants players]]
[[Category:Olympic baseball players for South Korea]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for South Korea]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in baseball]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games]]
[[Category:SSG Landers players]]
[[Category:South Korean baseball players]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Gunsan]]
[[Category:Baseball players from North Jeolla Province]]
[[Category:World Baseball Classic players of South Korea]]